How to Hide and Show Hidden Files/Folders on Mac

macOS provides a method to hide files and folders, similar to other operating systems. However, Apple’s default setting keeps these files and folders hidden to protect them from unauthorized access. This guide will assist you in showing or hiding files or folders on macOS using the Terminal app.

It is compatible with almost all versions of macOS, including Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, and Mavericks, as well as newer versions such as macOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma.

Show/Hide Hidden Files on Mac – Quick Table

	Terminal	Note
Show Hidden Files and Folders	defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES killall Finder	Press Return after each line
Hide a File or Folder	defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO killall Finder	Press Return after each line
Hide Hidden Files and Folders	chflags hidden […]	[…] = The path of the file or folder
Unhide a File or Folder	chflags nohidden […]	[…] = The path of the file or folder

Show/Hide Hidden Files Mac

macOS Sonoma is the latest operating system and it will release by Apple in the end of this year. It has many new features, including the ability to hide and show hidden files and folders. Just like an older version of macOS, you can use the Terminal to do this.

To show hidden files again, use the following command:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

killall Finder

To hide a file or folder, open the Terminal and type the following command:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

killall Finder

This will hide all files that have the “.” character in front of them.

How to Show Hidden Files/Folders

The simplest method of displaying hidden files or folders on macOS involves using the Terminal. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Open the Terminal

To open Terminal, just go to the Finder and then click Go >> Utilities.

A new window appears, you can see the Terminal app, just double-click on it.

You can also go to LaunchPad >> Find the Others >> Click on Terminal.

Step 2: Use the command lines

Now, you can copy and paste the two lines listed here into Terminal, and hit Return after each line:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

killall Finder

or

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

killall Finder

If the last line doesn’t work, you need to relaunch the Finder. To do this, press and hold Option + Control and click on the Finder icon in the Dock. Then, click on Relaunch.

Now go to the Finder by clicking on its icon in the Dock. You are going to view the hidden files. It’s like the image below:

Step 3: Exit the Terminal program

Select the Quit Terminal option from the Menu or press Command + Q.

How to Hide Hidden Files/Folders

Step 1: Open the Terminal

Step 2: If you want to hide hidden files and folders, you can simply use the following command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

killall Finder

or

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

killall Finder

The result.

How to Manage an Individual Hidden File/Folder

Hiding a File or Folder

The simplest method to multiple hidden files that change a unique attribute on the file known as a Finder flag is to use the “chflags” command line in the Terminal.

Just open the Terminal and type the following command line:

chflags hidden

Make sure to type a space after “hidden”.

Then drag the wanted file or folder to the Terminal window. Hit Return to run the command.

This is going to set the file as hidden.

Opening a Hidden File or Folder

To access the hidden file from the Finder, you can click on the Go menu in the Finder and select Go to Folder.

Put the path of the file into the dialog box and click Go or press Enter. The ~ means your user directory, so if you’ve had already a directory named like HiddenFolder on your Documents, you just enter:

~/Desktop/HiddenFolder

Open the folder which was hidden recently from your Desktop.

Open the folder which was hidden recently from your Disk.

More:

If you aren’t sure the path of the folder or file, you can open the Terminal and drag the folder into it. Then, you can see the path immediately.

Unhiding a File or Folder

To unhide a file or folder, just copy and paste the following command into the Terminal, including a space at the end.

chflags nohidden

If you keep in mind the correct path of the folder or file, you can type it inside the Terminal. If you are not sure, just use the above tip to show hidden files and folders in the Finder and then drag the hidden file or folder into the Terminal.

Hit Enter later and the file or folder will come to be unhidden, so you are able to open it as normal.

More:

You can press the Up or Down arrow button from your keyboard to see the command line which you’ve used.

How To Hide/Show Hidden Files Using Funter

There are some apps that allow you to use a hotkey for hiding or showing hidden files and folders on Mac, but we highly recommend the Funter which is a free application to operate hidden files and folders.

This app integrates with your Finder, and adds its own command to the context menu, so you can easily change file hidden attribute just from Finder with two steps.

Conclusion

In this article, we have shown you how to hide and display hidden files and folders on your Mac computer. We have also explained the various methods you can use to reveal these files, depending on your requirements.

If you have any questions or need assistance with this process, please let us know in the comments section below.

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